Following-up is The Missing Step to Finding Clients

I was chatting with a friend who helps people make sales in a non-pushy way. We were discussing a project she’d been doing and how she’d doubled the number of clients for the company, just by following up on enquiries.

How many prospective clients are missing out on working with you, just because you haven’t reminded them you’re there? How much of your marketing effort is going to waste because you’re not maximising it?

Selling isn’t something that comes naturally to many holistic practitioners - me included! However, it's necessary if you want to earn enough money to pay your bills through your work. Fortunately, there are ways of selling that are filled with integrity and following up on enquiries in a helpful way is one.

Following-up Shows You Care

People are busy and although they intend to book in with you, life takes over and they forget. Show you care by checking in with them, it reminds them of why they connected with you in the first place and if the time is right, it nudges them to act. If you don't follow up, you could be seen as not caring enough to make the effort, and they'll go and find someone else to help them.

And don't just see following up as being something you do with enquiries, following up with past clients is a great way to maintain relationships, and get returning clients, and recommendations too.

Your Client ‘Bucket’ is Leaking

If you imagine your business is a bucket and a successful business has a full bucket of clients. If you don’t have enough clients, your bucket is almost empty. Maybe you think there aren’t enough clients flowing into your bucket and do more and more marketing to try and fill it. But still, the levels don’t rise.

Then you notice the holes in your bucket - no matter how many clients you try and flow into the bucket, they’re falling through the holes. Instead of trying to attract more and more new clients, you need to start blocking the holes by communicating with those already in your metaphorical bucket. This will allow it to start to fill up with clients and your business will thrive.

Make The Most of Your Marketing

The purpose of marketing is to attract people to your business to make more sales. If you’re getting interest in what you do, but it’s not converting into paying clients, your problem isn’t building awareness through your marketing, it's where marketing and sales work together - building and maintaining relationships. Spending more time and money on marketing to fill the bucket won’t work if you’re not following up on the interest and clients you already have.

Create a Follow-up System

You need to create a follow-up system that works for you and fits with your style of communication.  Having a checklist as a reminder of each step will help you to implement it with every enquiry you receive.

An example checklist for a website enquiry:

• Receive an enquiry about your services through your website.
• Answer the enquiry and offer them a call to discuss their requirements.
• Make a note in your diary to follow them up in a week if you haven’t heard back.
• Send a helpful email asking if they have any questions about your services. Is there any more information they need?  Ask if they would like to join your mailing list and send them a link to your free guide etc. if you have one.
• Keep in touch with them through your regular emails or newsletter (if they signed up for them).
• If they haven’t signed up, make a note in your diary to follow them up in 2 weeks with links to useful information relevant to their enquiry and where they can sign up to your email list. Offer them another opportunity for a call.

Depending on where the enquiry came from, your checklist would vary, e.g. connecting with someone you met networking. Or, if you're keeping in touch with past clients, your system could include them receiving your email newsletter, or dropping them a quick message every few months.

Keep Track

Having one place whether it's a notebook, spreadsheet or on a software platform where you keep a note of who you're communicating with will help you be organised. For enquiries, having basic details like name, email address, phone number, where they heard about you (this information is gold for your marketing), date of last contact, next step, comments etc. will help stop anyone from falling through the holes in your bucket. For past clients, you can keep a list, or set a reminder in your diary to contact them.

Marketing is about connecting with people and building relationships. Following up on all your enquiries and past clients is a great way to show you care and give your business a boost at the same time.

If you're struggling with your marketing, it's time to get help. Book a call with me and let's have a chat about what's happening in your business and I'll help you figure out your next steps.